Shattered Soul (Autobots, Open)

[Wavelength]

Wavelength had stayed motionless for quite a while, though hearing the voices did begin to stir him a bit, and he became aware even though his body still was not reactive. His processor was still taking in what he heard and, though he could not force his frame to move, could not force his mouth to form words, he did have his coms. So, even motionless, even though he appeared completely non-responsive, he was aware, as hazy as his thought were, he knew what happened, he heard the most recently said things. He heard the words neural seizure and got a hold of the nearest and easiest to contact com frequency <"Help him. . .I. . .I will. . .recover. . ."> he sent, his optics just barely opening for a moment, all he could do, looking up at the one who was currently holding onto him, those bright red optics still holding that softness to them before they closed once more with a heavy exhale, Wavelength's frame settling once more to comfort as he tried to force his body to repair itself faster, the system damage wasn't that bad, he needed to replenish his energy levels, that was what his body was working on first and foremost, but he didn't like staying immobile like this, besides, he wanted to help and he couldn't much do that in his current state. Wavelength knew he was in no real danger of going offline due to system strain, Jazz on the other hand, he was in danger if the wrong thing gave.

[Charter]

Charter looked at the young mech in his arms, admittedly somewhat curious about him. He seemed nothing like the other Decepticons he knew, and the way his processor kept going even after his body had shut down was intriguing. He had to wonder if the small Decepticon was still fully aware despite being in light stasis. His answer came soon enough as he heard a voice come over his comm, that same soft and gentle voice the white mech had spoken with earlier. Even in stasis he was requesting Jazz be tended to instead of him and assuring that he would be fine. That was an insurmountable and self-sacrificing will in that mech. Even if Charter wasn't providing him with any form of physical aid the fact that he was willing to give that comfort he was there to provide to him for the sake of another meant something.

He gently laid Wavelength on the ground and went over to Jazz. He knew Red Alert was well capable of a neural interface himself and could help him but he also knew whoever did would see exactly what was going through Jazz's processor and considering what he had been through he wasn't just what that was or how it might effect Red Alert. The last thing they needed right now was Red Alert to have a glitch attack for whatever reason, not to mention the lasting effects whatever he saw in there might cause. He carefully placed a hand under Jazz's head and extended the tendril out, bracing himself for whatever he might see just before making the connection.

The vivid nightmare made even Charter jump a bit. Instinctively he wanted to retract but he forced himself to stay connected. He kept his calm, as he was so good at doing so, soothing Jazz's processor, offering some of his own self-repair nanobots, and even projecting himself into the nightmare to go to Jazz's side and comfort him. /~"It's alright, Jazz, I'm here. You're not alone, I'm here to help you."~\ he told the smaller silver mech in a calm and comforting tone, taking his hand and holding it even rubbing it a bit in a soothing way. That initial comfort should hopefully get his attention away from the horror enough that he could talk poor Jazz down a bit and dispel the nightmare. He'd done this sort of thing with patients in the past, mostly those who had some form of PTSD. /~"It's going to be okay, Jazz, you're safe now. Nothing can hurt you. Just keep that in mind and stay strong. Nothing here right now is stronger than you are."~\ Hopefully that would calm his mind a bit and those thoughts would form a sort of barrier against the brutal assault on him this nightmare was providing. If not, Charter was directly connected to Jazz's processor and could create barriers of his own. Nothing would harm Jazz in there from that point on and once Jazz knew he was safe and sound Charter could help him dispel the nightmare entirely. First, though, he would need some confirmation that Jazz had reached a stable enough state within his own mind to do so.

[Red Alert]

Red Alert's attention had been caught by Wheeljack's words, which made him move to connect to Jazz's neural interface. Charter beat him to it, however, which made Red Alert frown a bit, but he didn't protest. Jazz was receiving the help that he needed, and that was all that mattered. He directed some of his attention to Wavelength, watching the white mech. While it was unlikely that he would attack them, given all the circumstances, Red Alert just couldn't help but at least keep an optic on him. He figured that if Wavelength hadn't woken up by the time they moved back to base, they'd have to bring him with, if only to at least treat the mech.

[Deleted]

Optimus could only watch as his friends and teammates worked, worry showing in the prime’s expression. The extent of the damage physically and mentally were both likely equally horrifying of the mental damage twice as worse, and it would take time for Jazz to overcome it fully if he did at all. For now all he could do was watch and wait, making sure no other Decepticons with hostile intentions decided to try something, if they did he would protect his team and the young Decepticon still lying in stasis close by. Though he watched the others work Optimus’ gaze remained on the landscape, skies, and ocean most of the time, though for now there were no signs of danger.

[Jazz]

Internally, Jazz was trapped in the seemingly endless loop, reliving the nightmare of his own death as the already vicious looking form of Megatron took on literally demonic nightmarish proportions, lashing out at Jazz' body and ripping him apart. As Charter settled next to him, he could see ghostly images of Ironhide and Ratchet rushing to his side, Ratchet trying desperately to save him only to watch as Jazz' Spark faded, “Ratchet… help me… please… I don’t… want to die…” came the weak, raspy plea from Jazz as he looked up at a ghostly image of Ratchet kneeling beside him. “Jazz! Stay with me! Don’t you die on me, slaggit! Don’t you dare die on me! Jazz! JAZZ!” Ratchet was shouting back while Ironhide's ghostly visage looked on sadly as Jazz seemed to die before their optics.

Then for a split second, Jazz' optics focused and saw Charter sitting there, realizing that the tall slender mech was holding his hand. A brief flicker of recognition flashed across the silver mech's features, then and Jazz reached towards Charter for a moment. Then the moment passed and Jazz' face turned to a mask of terror as the nightmare resumed and Megatron reached for Jazz again. "C’mere, little cretin." Megatron snarled as he grabbed Jazz by the leg. Jazz could only scream in terror as he was dragged away from Charter, despite trying desperately to hold on, Megatron's insidious intentions clear...

[Wheeljack]

Wheeljack nodded to Jolt as he attached the braces, then vented a sigh as Jazz' frame seemed to relax a bit once Charter plugged into his neural core. "Hopefully you can keep him steady til we can get him back to base." He then glanced over at Red Alert with a reassuring smile. "It'll be alright Red, we just need to get the repairs done, then you can help with his recovery, alright?" he offered softly and returned to his work stabilizing the main struts and linkages connecting the two halves of his chassis. "Once we get him back to base we'll have to remove these as we go. Good thing you had these on hand though." he said to Jolt, then scowled a bit as Jazz' shaking started to pick up a bit.

[Soundwave]

Soundwave watched quietly from his vantage point, then tilted his head as Charter left Wavelength to attend to Jazz though a neural link. He stalked forward a few steps then, wanting to retrieve the young white mech and get his depleted systems back on line again, though he was careful to remain undetected. <~"Wavelength, status: required. Retrieval: possible?"~> he asked over the secure coms, and from those five words, Wavelength would know immediately that Soundwave was intending to move in and extract him from the beach. He waited for a response from his adoptive son, hoping he was not planning to let himself be taken back to their base with them, yet also hoping that doing so would help Soundwave's family find safe haven in this war, even if it was with the Autobots.

[Jolt]

Jolt smiled just slightly "You know I'm normally pretty prepared Wheeljack, give me some credit." he said with a small chuckle, hoping, just hoping that maybe a little happiness, even if it wasn't too much, could break the grim. After all, they had Jazz back now and Jolt was not about to let them lose him again. He continued to work on the damage, moving lower to aid with the reconstruction and reconnection of waist struts, the other damage above was repaired enough to be stable, and then a little more to be sure. The more they could get before moving him, the better. "We should be able to bridge him to base soon, a stretcher would be the best option though, just picking him up and carrying him with this damage could worsen it. And let's face it, working on a beach like this is not the best conditions for such repairs, too much risk for debris getting back into him." he said before looking to Red Alert, knowing Red wouldn't want to leave Jazz's side but someone did need to space bridge through and grab a stretcher, after all, both Jolt and Ratchet made sure there were some right in grab distance from the space bridge generator at base, just for medical emergencies. "Red Alert, can you go right through the space bridge, as soon as you emerge look to your right, they'll be stretchers there, it'll only take a moment, we're going to need one to move him to better operating conditions." he said, hoping that wouldn't be asking too much of the red and white mech.

[Wavelength]

Wavelength heard the com, his will beginning to override his body's needs a bit as he managed to get himself to roll onto his side, those red optics opening as he looked on, seeing the Autobots tending to Jazz. He had just the slightest smile come onto his lips, though it was hidden by his lower face mask. He opened up coms to Soundwave, using the same encoded signal he rathered when responding <"It took a little out of me, but I am alright. I have to do this, for Alex, and for all of us. Options don't hurt. Please, Dad, trust me."> he asked of Soundwave, his optics never leaving the others. He couldn't get his body to sit up, talking with his true body would be too difficult right now, so he relaxed on his side, his holoform engaging, that took much less effort for him to control due to the small size. His holoform walked up, looking over them, so many people for one fallen bot. Was that how the Autobots really were? To him it looked like one huge family regaining a member more than a bunch of bots who happen to work together. It wasn't protocol making them care for Jazz, it was friendship, concern, things seldom seen from Decepticons, sure, there were a few, himself, Soundwave, Knockout, some of the Decepticons weren't that bad and actually did care for others, but the rest, the rest he tended to avoid because of how sparkless they could be. "Is. . .Jazz going to be alright? I saw the nightmares, what Megatron did to him. . .and more. He was under a lot of strain, is he going to recover fully or will those terrors still haunt him?" Wavelength's silver and indigo haired holoform asked, looking up at those tending to Jazz. He wished he could have used his true form but, right now, that took far too much energy, energy he needed to recover.

[Charter]

Charter was only partially aware of what was occurring outside Jazz's processor, his focus on helping Jazz within his own mind. The voices of the others sounded faint and distant to him and he only caught bits and pieces of what was going on. He understood that they were going to move Jazz soon and he knew he had to keep that neural interface with him until the nightmare was gone at the least, if possible longer. If that meant splitting his consciousness between Jazz's mind and the physical so be it, he would push himself to do so.

As soon as the nightmare's portrayal of Megatron grabbed Jazz Charter's demeanor went from comforting to fierce and determined. He shot forward, forming an energy sword and swiping it at the wrist of the arm which had grabbed Jazz, aiming to sever it. He formed a barrier of his bright blue energy around Jazz to keep anything that might come at him away, hoping the visible barrier would grant Jazz some comfort, and prepared himself for a fight, knowing full well that this Megatron could hurt him here if Jazz believed he could. He may not sustain any physical damage from it but it would feel as though he had, the same going for any physical exertion. He took a defensive stance, knowing that Megatron would fight in whatever way Jazz's mind imagined it at this point so he couldn't be sure what to expect. He realized that this nightmare was a loop and he wasn't sure how long Jazz had been living it but it was time for him to wake from it. /~"Jazz, you're safe now, do you understand that? None of this is real, it is a fabrication, a construct from your own mind. None of this is really happening. This whole nightmare is just that, a nightmare. That is why the same scene keeps replaying, why time seems to loop. It isn't real."~\ Making Jazz aware of the situation would hopefully help him to overcome it. Charter could help to calm him, help protect him, but he could only do so much in another's mind-scape. /~"I will fight for you here, Jazz. I will keep you safe and allow no more harm to come to you for as long as it takes, but only you can make it stop. This is your mind and nothing here is stronger than you. All you have to do is will the scene to fade and it will. You can reshape this nightmare into a dream, but only you can do it, do you understand that?"~\

[Deleted]

Optimus continued to keep watch but looked as Wavelength started to move and the older mech was relieved to this, it was at least a sign that Wavelength would be alright. Looking at Jazz Optimus let out a deep sigh,"Physically he can be repaired Wavelength but mentally it will have a toll I'm sure. It will take time for a full recovery." He replied softly and with deep concern, a concern he held for with all the Autobots. For them to suffer lime this broke his spark and made it difficult sometimes to watch at all but for now they had to be strong and hope Jazz would pull through.

Pushing back the sadness Optimus looked at Wavelength's true form lying on the ground and walked over and held out a hand,"If you need some assistance to get up or stand I'm here to help." He offered kindly, though it was only an offer. Optimus wasn't tense or on alert with Wavelength, he had risked his own well being to help someone considered an enemy and to the Prime most peopler bots deserved a chance.

[Red Alert]

Red Alert looked up at Jolt when he heard the blue medic speak his name, and gave a nod. Before releasing Jazz's hand, he gave it a quick squeeze, telling him ~"I'll be right back."~ before standing up. He activated his smaller, personal generator to get back to the base. Once there, he moved to the controls, setting them up so that the space bridge would remain open, then opened the space bridge to it's last coordinates. Leaving the controls, he grabbed a stretcher and ran through, running over to where Jolt, Wheeljack, and Jazz were. "Got it." He stated, setting the stretcher on the ground.

[Jazz]

The nightmare Megatron roared and recoiled, letting Jazz go and slashing at Charter with his other hand with a demonic snarl. When Jazz hit the ground, he cried out and started trying to pull himself away from the nightmare, somewhere, somehow, Charter's words triggering something as the nightmare seemed to change, shifting as Megatron melded into an undersea cliff. Jazz felt cold, everything was dark, the pressure on his chassis, submerged, in pain, he crawled, his vocal emitters screaming as he dragged his own chassis across the sea floor. The journey was truncated, but the memory was there as Jazz left the remains of the trailer he had been buried in behind as he crawled, desperately seeking safety, seeking air, crying out desperately in the hopes his friends would hear him. Three weeks of submerged memory flickered by as Charter watched, ghostly after images of the nightmare of Megatron chasing Jazz the whole way, then Jazz felt sand, air, and he screamed...

Jazz' optics suddenly flared brightly and he let out a fluid chilling scream of terror that was half vocal, half electronic, his hands reaching for anything he could grab hold of, desperately trying to pull himself out of the nightmare that was even now threatening to drag him back into the pit of darkness with it. With everything below his chest either braced or non functional, Jazz only had his arms to do anything with as he fought the panic he had suddenly woke up in, though the pain inhibitors were still working which lessened the effect some. But he was still in a full blown panic, unable to move half his chassis and finding himself being held down, not knowing where he was or what was happening to him.

[Wheeljack]

Wheeljack reacted instinctively, grabbing Jazz' nearest arm as it came up, trying to help hold him still. "JAZZ! Easy, You're Safe! It's okay, you're safe, you're alright." he started at a shout that gradually tapered off trying to help get Jazz' attention. He looked to Charter, then to Jolt, then back to Jazz, hoping they could pull the tortured silver mech out of his panic and calm him down. If not, he hated the thought of putting him under again, but if there was no other alternative, then they would have to just to preserve the repairs to Jazz' battered frame.

[Soundwave]

Soundwave looked on as Wavelength asked Soundwave to keep his distance, dear, gentle young Wavelength. He brought one hand up to his chest a moment, not liking having to leave the young mech there, but hoping his son was right as he watched Optimus go over to help him while the rest worked on Jazz. <~"Be careful, my son."~> he replied, the modulation in his voice fading, revealing the concern he held for Wavelength, and just how much he saw the young mech as one of his own. <~"Return to me soon..."~> he added softly as he began to retreat reluctantly, though he kept close watch as Red Alert brought a stretcher for Jazz, knowing they would be leaving soon.

The scream made him turn suddenly, ready to jump to Wavelength's aide, then relaxed seeing the source of the scream was Jazz and not his son. He still did not like the sound and he found himself feeling pity for the tortured silver mech as his friends tried desperately to calm him down. He knew they would care for their own, and he knew that his own presence right now would only cause more harm than good. He had no choice then, and with a last look to his gentle son, he finally turned and made his way well out of the area and took to the sky again, praying that Wavelength really would be safe, though his vengeance would be fast and deadly for certain if they harmed him at all after what Wavelength did to help Jazz. For now he could only watch from a distance like always, though another presence drew his attention briefly. Could it be? A ghost or real, Soundwave could not say, though he was not going to question it. If this ghost from the past wanted to remain a ghost, Soundwave would not interfere.